BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Fruit heteromorphism is considered to be a bet-hedging strategy to cope with spatially or temporally heterogeneous environments. The different behaviours of the fruit morphs of the same species might also be beneficial during naturalization, once the species has been introduced to a new range. Yet, no study to date has tested the association between fruit heteromorphism and global-scale naturalization success for a large set of plant species. METHODS: We compiled two large datasets on fruit heteromorphism in Asteraceae. One dataset was on native species in Central Europe (n = 321) and the other was on species frequently planted as ornamentals (n = 584). Using phylogenetic linear and logistic regressions, we tested whether heteromorphic species are more likely to naturalize outside their native range, and in more regions of the world than monomorphic species. We also tested whether the effect of heteromorphism is modulated by life history and height of the species. KEY RESULTS: We show that heteromorphic species were more likely to naturalize outside their native range. However, among the naturalized species, heteromorphic and monomorphic species did not differ in the number of world regions where they became naturalized. A short life span and tall stature both promoted naturalization success and, when life history and height were included in the models, the effect of fruit heteromorphism on the ability to naturalize became non-significant. Nevertheless, among tall plants, heteromorphic ornamental species were significantly more likely to become naturalized in general and in more regions than monomorphic species. CONCLUSIONS: Our results provide evidence that in Asteraceae the production of heteromorphic fruits is associated with naturalization success. It appears, however, that not fruit heteromorphism per se, but a successful combination of other biological traits in fruit heteromorphic species, namely short life span and tall stature, contributes to their naturalization success.

Biodiversity Macroecology and Biogeography University of Goettingen Göttingen Germany

Centre for Invasion Biology Department of Botany and Zoology Stellenbosch University Matieland South Africa

Centre of Biodiversity and Sustainable Land Use University of Goettingen Göttingen Germany

Department of Biosciences Durham University Durham UK

Department of Ecology Faculty of Science Charles University Prague 2 Czech Republic

Division of Conservation Biology Vegetation and Landscape Ecology University of Vienna Wien Austria

Ecology Department of Biology University of Konstanz Konstanz Germany

German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research Halle Jena Leipzig Leipzig Germany

Hungarian Department of Biology and Ecology Babeş Bolyai University Cluj Napoca Romania

The Czech Academy of Sciences Institute of Botany Department of Invasion Ecology Průhonice Czech Republic

Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Taizhou University Taizhou China

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